A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 27

## A Rookie in the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 27

9. Into the First Team (1)

“So, you’re saying you want me to promote two training assistants to the first team?”

Operations Team Leader Park Sang-woo asked.

“Yes.”

Ryu Jang-ho nodded.

“Not just one, but two?”

Ryu Jang-ho’s firm answer created a tense atmosphere in the manager’s office.

Even for a request from the team’s best hitter, it wasn’t something they could readily agree to.

The KH Cannons front office was already struggling with a manpower shortage in every department.

From each department head’s perspective, this was the perfect opportunity to try and pull people into their own departments.

“First of all… who are they? Who are these guys you want to bring with you, Jang-ho?”

The head of the power analysis team broke the silence, which had been filled with everyone carefully watching each other.

“How can we even consider promoting them to the first team if we don’t know who they are?”

“Kim Ji-seop and Go Chang-deok…”

Ryu Jang-ho continued.

“I heard that Kim Ji-seop has been a batting practice pitcher for the second team for a few days, and Go Chang-deok is working in the power analysis team.”

“Power analysis team? Go Chang-deok? Ah!”

As soon as Ryu Jang-ho finished speaking, the head of the power analysis team slapped his knee.

“Chang-deok?! Oh, we can definitely promote Chang-deok!”

The head of the power analysis team turned to Operations Team Leader Park Sang-woo and continued.

“Team Leader Park, Chang-deok is a really valuable asset. He’s essential to our power analysis team.”

A chance to potentially gain a new recruit for the power analysis team.

The head of the power analysis team began to actively advocate for Go Chang-deok.

“He’s a bit older, but not to a detrimental extent. He’s from a prestigious university… Oh, that’s right! Go Chang-deok was the one who first suggested a way to overcome Jang-ho’s slump!”

“A training assistant… came up with a plan to overcome Jang-ho’s slump?”

The head of the development team interjected.

“Team Leader Jo, does that really make sense? A training assistant who’s barely been with the team for a few days… Are you trying to get a new recruit by exaggerating things?”

“Hey, why would I lie when the truth will come out soon enough? If you’re suspicious, you can call our team members right now! You’ll see I’m telling the truth when you hear what they have to say!”

“No, well, it doesn’t have to go that far…”

After hearing the story, it was no exaggeration to say that Go Chang-deok was the number one contributor to Ryu Jang-ho overcoming his slump.

After some deliberation, the team leaders came up with their own ‘compromise’.

“Then how about this? We only promote Go Chang-deok to the first team.”

It was the development team leader who spoke.

“The training assistants need to understand how the club works… If we promote two of them to the first team right now, the morale of the remaining training assistants will plummet.”

Talking about the morale of the training assistants was just a flimsy excuse.

The development team leader’s real intention was to buy time to secure a new recruit he had been eyeing for the first team.

The other team leaders had similar thoughts, so they all nodded and agreed with the development team leader’s opinion.

“Let’s do that, Team Leader Park.”

“I think that would be good too.”

“In my opinion, promoting two people to the first team at once is a bit unrealistic…”

All eyes turned to Operations Team Leader Park Sang-woo, the meeting’s representative.

Just when it seemed the decision was leaning towards promoting only Go Chang-deok to the first team…

“If that’s what the team leaders think… I understand.”

The ‘genius hitter’ of the KH Cannons, who had been silently listening with his arms crossed, finally spoke.

“Then I’ll stay in the second team to prepare for the season.”

“What?!”

The team leaders couldn’t help but widen their eyes at Ryu Jang-ho’s bombshell declaration.

“Jang-ho, you… what are you talking about? Staying in the second team!”

“Do you even realize how much the whole club atmosphere has been disrupted because of you?”

“If you’ve been struggling in the second team until now, shouldn’t you be thinking about getting up to the first team quickly and showing a good performance…?”

Even so, they were dealing with a twenty-three-year-old baseball player.

The team leaders seemed to be trying to pressure Ryu Jang-ho by creating a tense atmosphere.

It was a negotiation tactic that had been quite effective in the past, but—

“I’m saying this *to* show you a good performance this season.”

That day, Ryu Jang-ho’s attitude was unusually firm, as if he were completely set on his decision.

“The morale of the training assistants who will remain in the second team… Frankly, isn’t that none of my business?”

“Hey, this guy?!”

The development team leader’s voice grew louder.

However, Ryu Jang-ho didn’t even flinch.

“I’m not curious about what the training assistants are thinking, and I don’t really care about how the team atmosphere has become because of me.”

“…”

“I just want to play baseball well. And in order to play baseball well this season…”

Kim Ji-seop. Go Chang-deok.

Ryu Jang-ho held up two fingers.

“These two people are essential… That’s what I’ve concluded.”

Ryu Jang-ho crossed his arms again and puffed out his nose.

“But if the team leaders are so opposed to it… there’s nothing I can do, is there? I’ll just have to stay in the second team.”

“Hey, what if they *can’t* promote the two of them to the first team even after the season starts?”

The development team leader challenged.

“Will you still be in the second team then? Until they let that guy Kim Ji-seop join the first team?”

“Th, that’s…”

Ryu Jang-ho blinked.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Why are you so confidently saying that you haven’t thought about it?”

The development team leader patted his chest as if he was frustrated.

Operations Team Leader Park Sang-woo opened his mouth, patting the development team leader’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Jang-ho, so what you’re saying is… Go Chang-deok alone isn’t enough, and you need Kim Ji-seop too?”

He was an operations team leader who was used to dealing with players.

First, the operations team leader tried to appease Ryu Jang-ho with gentle words.

“That’s right.”

“We understand the need for Go Chang-deok. But we don’t know much about Kim Ji-seop yet.”

Park Sang-woo clasped his hands together and looked at the stubborn fourth hitter.

“As far as I know, Kim Ji-seop has never been drafted by a professional team, and he only came from the Chinese league until recently…”

The team leaders started buzzing again at the mention of the ‘Chinese league’.

After waiting for the team leaders to quiet down, Park Sang-woo spoke again.

“Why do you want to keep such a person by your side? What are Kim Ji-seop’s strengths that we don’t know about? We need to know that so that the team leaders can consider your request in a forward-looking manner.”

“Ji, Ji-seop *hyung’s* [older brother/friend] strengths are…”

Ryu Jang-ho’s attitude softened a little at Team Leader Park’s gentle tone.

He looked around for a moment, pondering, and then carefully opened his mouth.

“Ji-seop *hyung* is… the person on our team who understands me the best.”

“Understands you?”

“Yes.”

Ryu Jang-ho nodded.

“What I understood, what I didn’t understand, what I want, and what I don’t want… Ji-seop *hyung* knows everything without me having to say it.”

Ryu Jang-ho hesitated a little after saying this.

He was worried about whether his explanation would convince the team leaders.

They might say, ‘Is knowing your heart a big deal?’ or ‘How can he understand you when he’s only seen you a few times?’ and laugh at him.

“To be more precise…”

Ryu Jang-ho raised his head, trying to come up with a more plausible explanation.

But the next moment, he saw the team leaders looking at him with serious expressions.

“Jang-ho, he understands you well?”

It was Operations Team Leader Park Sang-woo who spoke.

“If it’s someone who can read a player’s mind, that’s something else entirely…”

At that moment, meaningful glances were exchanged between the team leaders.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

Ryu Jang-ho, who had no idea what was going on, simply tilted his head in confusion.

* * *

Late that afternoon.

In the CEO’s office of KH Cannons Field, two old men were shaking hands firmly.

“Thank you, Vice Chairman.”

The person who kept bowing and expressing his gratitude was the principal of an elementary school in Yeongsan City, Gyeonggi Province.

“I don’t know how to express my gratitude for your generous support of our school’s baseball team…”

“Haha, you don’t have to bow so much, Principal.”

The person who laughed heartily was Park Hong-joo, Vice Chairman of KH Cannons, acting CEO and owner.

“When you think about it, it’s all for the good of our team. If student athletes come to Cannons Field often, they will naturally think, ‘Ah, I want to play here someday.'”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo continued with a smile.

“KH Cannons plans to carry out various support projects for young student athletes in the future. We will send you official documents regularly, so please submit your application forms on time.”

“Thank you, Vice Chairman.”

As the elementary school principal left the CEO’s office, Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo slumped down on the sofa, letting out a groan.

“I’m tired, so tired! If I had known this would happen, I would have left the CEO position to someone else…”

Vice Chairman Park grumbled and drank his cold coffee.

He put the coffee cup down next to him and asked Secretary Yang.

“Oh, that’s right… What happened with that planned article that came up this morning?”

“Are you talking about the article about Ryu Jang-ho?”

Secretary Yang stepped forward and answered.

“There was nothing particularly noteworthy to report. We received a report that Ryu showed a good performance in live batting practice this afternoon…”

“Really? It seems his condition has recovered?”

“Yes, but…”

A faint smile appeared on Secretary Yang’s lips.

“There was also a report that Kim Ji-seop played a significant role in Ryu Jang-ho’s recovery.”

“That Qingdao [city in China] guy?”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo gestured, urging him to continue.

“Yes, it seems that Kim Ji-seop gave Ryu Jang-ho a lot of advice. Ryu directly requested Kim Ji-seop’s promotion to the first team…”

“Heh.”

“The operations team leader, who received Ryu’s request, approved Kim Ji-seop’s move to the first team.”

“Really?”

Vice Chairman Park, who had been listening quietly, suddenly asked with a serious expression.

“But is it possible to get promoted to the first team with just that much merit? Has it been revealed that the Qingdao guy came in through my connections?”

“We can’t completely rule out that possibility… But according to the report, all of the team leaders agreed to Kim Ji-seop’s move to the first team.”

“The reason?”

In response to Vice Chairman Park’s question, Secretary Yang checked the tablet he was holding.

“The wording in the report was… ‘Because he has good insight.'”

“Insight?”

Vice Chairman Park’s thick eyebrows twitched.

“Good insight?”

“Yes.”

Secretary Yang nodded.

“The ability to grasp the psychological state, condition, and injuries of players… It’s considered the most important quality for the baseball team’s front office.”

“Wouldn’t that be important in everything in the world, not just in baseball team work?”

*That* guy is quite something.

Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo leaned back on the sofa and chuckled softly.

He put the glasses he was wearing in his front pocket and asked.

“So… what role is that ‘training assistant with good insight’ going to play in the first team?”

“It seems that nothing has been specifically decided yet…”

Secretary Yang continued.

“For now, it seems likely that he will be working under Cho Sung-beom, head of the International Business Team.”

“The International Business Team…”

Vice Chairman Park Hong-joo nodded slowly.

“Then will he be managing foreign players?”